I don't think Tohei Sensei's four principles were ever intended to be the entirety of how/what he taught. Rather a simple condensed check list of things to make sure you're getting right. Of course such a check list is largely useless unless you have enough knowledge to know what 'keeping one point' really is, the knowledge of this therefore cannot come from the check list but must come from elsewhere. When I was first learning I found it hugely annoying that I wasn't being given good explanations of how to 'keep one point', but they came in time, partly through direct instruction, partly through careful observation on my part. If the IS gurus have got a good handle on explaining the how, I say fair play to them, wish I'd had that 15 years ago. But I got it in the end.

As usual though, somone who it seems has barely scrathced the surface of ki aikido is maligning it . Let me take a wild stab here and ask you to describe unbendable arm with particular emphasis on the increasing levels of difficulty of that test. What's that I hear you say? Isn't there only one test for unbendable arm? Nope, there are levels of test that get harder to pass. But you knew that right?

Mike:

Who do you think is maligning Ki Aikido? I do not know why you keep on harping on this same subject matter. What Tohei Sensei did and what O'Sensei did were not entirely the same. What Dan teaches goes beyond what Tohei Sensei did, and is more in line with what O'Sensei did and spoke about. If you ask how might I know that? Simply look at who my teacher is. Imaizumi Shizuo Sensei had direct experience with both of those giants. What has interested me a lot is how my teacher's Aikido has evolved over the years and has changed in a manner in which his movements have become closer to what I see in O'Sensei videos. He hile still keeps the same fundamentals that he learned from Tohei Sensei intact. Dan's teaching provides me with a way to systematically observe and learn what it is that I am observing and being taught. That is a rare gift that Dan has.

All of that being said, no one is demeaning Tohei Sensei's contributions. He was a giant and made major contributions to our art.